24-28 June 2026
Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Call for papers
A unique, globe-trotting event for enthusiasts of fiddle music, dance, and learning, NAFCo is both an exhilarating festival and an international academic conference. The festival celebrates and showcases the very best of fiddle and dance styles from around the North Atlantic, while the conference attracts leading researchers in the field.
Returning to its founding venue in Aberdeen to celebrate its 25th anniversary, the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention (NAFCo) combines a festival with an academic conference, featuring interactive workshops, concerts, interviews, public lectures, academic papers, and live-music sessions. NAFCo is a cultural exchange and meeting place for artists, academics, and enthusiasts, dedicated to the study and performance of fiddle music and dance.
As with all NAFCo conferences, we welcome presentations and panels on any aspect of current research into fiddle music and dancing.
The 2026 theme will be Traditions & Transformations: Past, Present and Possibilities in Fiddle and Dance Traditions. As we celebrate 25 years of NAFCo, the conference offers a chance to reflect on the rich histories of fiddle traditions across the globe, exploring their importance in the present day and considering the impacts of innovation and change.
While the focus of NAFCo in the past has been the countries surrounding the northern part of the North Atlantic (mostly the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Canada and the United States), since 2018 we have expanded this to include mainland Europe, Central and South America, West Africa, and other parts of the world where there are notable fiddle traditions, in order to broaden the discussion and explore the use of fiddle and other bowed string instruments in a variety of performance contexts. We invite contributions on research into fiddle traditions across the world.
Academics and practitioners are invited to submit proposals for presentations, panels, round tables, posters, diamond sessions, and films on any research related to the fiddle music and dance traditions.
We particularly encourage proposals relating to the following:
Histories and sources of fiddle music and dance
Music, migration, and the development of repertoires
Stylistic innovations and cultural changes
Musical languages and dialects
Re-contextualising and re-purposing of the instrument and its music
Adaptation of other repertoires for the fiddle
Proposals are invited for:
Papers
Panels
Round table discussions
'Diamond' presentations
Films
Posters
Presentations should be 20 minutes long with 5-10 minutes for questions.
Panels can involve shorter presentations of 10-15 minutes each followed by a chaired discussion.
Diamond Presentations are seven minutes long and are organised around 21 slides that are set to advance automatically every 20 seconds. They are free from text and speakers should refrain from reading notes.
Films can either fit into a 20-minute presentation slot, or be shown separately as part of the wider convention programming.
The deadline for submissions is Friday 31st October 2025.
All proposals will be anonymously peer reviewed.
Festival Leads: Laura Harrington & Kirsty Clements
Conference Chair: Dr Aaron McGregor, Lecturer in Music, University of Aberdeen.
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